What Someone Like You Deserves
by RedArtisticQueen
Summary: After the Giant War, both Leo and Reyna are fading into the background. The war didn't win either of them anyone to ease the loneliness. When Leo gets fed up and leaves Camp, and Reyna knows where to find him, will she be able to convince him to come back? Or will she agree that living alone in a crowd of strangers isn't worth the pain? Post-Giant War. Three-Shot. Angsty Leyna.
1. Chapter 1

Leo was no stranger to abandonment. He knew the feeling well; much more than any kid his age should ever know. Once upon a time, he had dreamed of growing up working alongside his mother in the machine shop, spending his life tinkering with tools in Texas. A beautiful, simple life.

It didn't exactly happen like that.

Instead he'd faced loss. He'd seen his mother die; burdened with the knowledge that he'd killed her. He'd been disowned by family, bounced from home to home, always running, always escaping. And just when he thought he'd found a _real_ home, a place where he had friends and as close to a family as he could hope for, he'd had to stand by quietly as they-just like everyone else-forgot about him, and he faded into the background. All his dreams of a quiet, peaceful life shattered.

Leo was alone.

* * *

Reyna was no stranger to heartbreak. She knew the feeling well, much better than she'd ever picture herself knowing it when she was much younger, before Circe's Island. She thought, as every little girl does, that she'll meet her prince charming at round one, and live happily ever after, ride off into the sunset, queen of her own personal castle.

It didn't exactly happen like that.

Instead she'd faced heartache. She'd seen her sister abandon her, her best friend disappear, and then leave her by herself. She was left with a job meant for two, shouldering guilt and regret that she never should have faced. Even now that people were celebrating, she realized that even though she had medals, and honor and respect, she didn't have anyone to celebrate with. All her dreams of a picture perfect life shattered.

Reyna was alone.

* * *

Leo stood looking over the border to Camp Half-Blood. He wondered if he walked over right now, whether someone would notice. Would an alarm bell ring? Would a light in the Big House come on? Would anyone even notice? Would anyone even care? He was so tempted. He could just walk over the line and erase this part of his life, the way he had erased the other lives. He could start somewhere else. Somehow, someway, he'd move on. He always did. That was his one rule: Keep moving on.

He'd broken it by staying at Camp. And it had come back to bite him.

Would anyone mind if he tried to honor it now?

The night was dark, and Leo thought about turning back. He could try again, he could find a home here. But no. _Don't stay in one place too long. It was the only way to keep ahead of the sadness._ He had to keep moving. Soon, this place would be another sad memory. He didn't want ti to be that way, but that's the way it always had been. Leo was a runner. When he left he didn't come back. He wasn't found until he wanted to be found.

But this time, he was sure that no one would be looking for him.

"Leo?"said a voice behind him. He had been so lost in thought he hadn't even heard Reyna coming up the hill to stand by him. Her hair was loose from her braid, and she was wearing pajamas. It was funny, but Leo had never pictured Reyna to _own_ pajamas. She wasn't that type of person. She stood with her arms folded against the wind, and her lips pursed in worry.

"Reyna," he said coolly, trying to sound like everything was okay. "What brings you out here on this fine night?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Her voice was icy, but there was a waver to it that showed that she wasn't as rigid as she was making herself look.

"So I guess this is what they call an impasse," Leo suggested innocently.

"I suppose so," she agreed.

They stood in silence for a bit, each lost in their own thoughts. To Leo's surprise, it was Reyna who broke the silence.

"Have you ever thought about just leaving?" she asked. Leo was shocked for a minute, before recovering his wits. Reyna abandoning camp? That would never happen. But that's what he was about to do, wasn't it? How was that any different. Leo made a crack decision to be perfectly honest.

"All the time," he said. "I even know how I'd do it."

"How?" Reyna asked honestly.

"I'd just walk out. No one would even notice. I could even do it in broad daylight if I wanted."

"You're so sure about that?" Reyna asked.

Leo hesitated. The tone in her voice was hinting at something, but he couldn't tell what. Leo had never talked much to Reyna. He had blown up her camp-whether by accident or not was irrelevant-and that was pretty much a constant conversation killer. Besides, Reyna was busy and important, and nothing that happened was important enough to have her address him personally. Occasionally they made small talk (tinny, awkward small talk) but it had never gotten much farther than that. Of all the people who might miss him, Reyna-who barely acknowledged his existence-was close to the bottom of the list.

She continued, "I was thinking the same thing," she admitted. "I'd love to leave, try something different for a change. But I have responsibilities to think of. I couldn't abandon my people."

Leo snorted. "I doubt the people would mind if I abandoned them. I'm a walking fire hazard. I make people nervous."

"You don't make me nervous," Reyna said.

"You're Reyna. Nothing makes you nervous."

She barely cracked a smile.

"If you left, where would you go?" The question wasn't prying, more like politely curious. It was almost funny to Leo how they were taking his leaving camp as a hypothetical situation, when they both knew it was inevitable.

"I don't know," he confessed. "I'd go somewhere. Somewhere that doesn't remind me of anywhere I've left behind."

"I take it you have quite the trail of breadcrumbs," she said softly.

"The longest." His mood darkened instantly.

There was more silence. No one wanted to signal the end of the conversation.

"So here I go," he said.

"Stay."

The word played over and over in his head. He turned to face her.

"What?"

She looked embarrassed, as if she hadn't meant to say that out loud. "I want you to stay. You can't just keep running. You'll run out of places to go."

"The world is bigger than you'd imagine," he said.

"You're making the problem worse by not facing it."

"And what is my problem, Reyna?" he asked, getting angry now. "That I'm so forgettable? That nothing I do is ever permanent? That I'm destined to live life alone, taking care of myself, the seventh wheel?"

On the last words, his voice cracked. _The seventh wheel_. The words Nemesis had said so long ago. He'd never forgotten them, maybe because they just confirmed by divine authority what he'd thought for years: No one would ever care enough about him. He'd wanted to prove the goddess wrong but it was impossible. Leo would just never be _enough_ to be remembered. He knew people liked him, but he would never be on their list of priorities, for some, not even second-rate priorities. He was just Flaming Valdez, the pyromaniac with the magic tool belt. Nothing more.

Leo lit a fire in his palm. It sparked and glowed, showing his agitation, and Reyna looked at it with fascination, but not in wonder or fear like he was used to. It was a nice change.

"I am alone," she said. "But I know that that is what is best for now. Why can't it be the same for you?"

"I'm not like you," he growled.

She studied him. "No, you're not. I distance myself from others to avoid showing pain. You hide behind humor and laughs, and everyone thinks you're fine, but you're not. You aren't like me, Leo Valdez. You're worse."

Leo curled his hand into a fist and crushed the flame. His hand was shaking.

"How did you know I'd be out here?" he asked frostily. He almost never used that tone, not even to people he hated, but he had reached his limit. He needed to get out, to get _away_. He didn't feel safe anymore. But then again, he'd never felt safe.

"I didn't," she said calmly. "I needed to think. It was lucky that you happened to decide to skip town on the same night. At least I get to wish you good luck."

"You're not going to make me stay?"

"I want you to stay," she admitted. "But I know there's no stopping you.

"No, there isn't," he said flatly.

"Then good luck." Reyna smiled a small smile. "I'll miss you."

"Why? We never even talked." Leo looked her right in the face. She stared back, gaze unwavering.

"Because no one else will," she said simply. "And someone like you deserves to be missed." She smiled then, a real, genuine smile, and Leo realized he had never seen Reyna smile before. He had made the Ice Queen smile. _For the first and only time,_ the small voice in his head whispered, and his elation faded.

Reyna turned and started walking down the hill. "Wait!"Leo called out. She turned, her expression confused.

"As to where I'm going," he said in his regular-Leo voice. "I, my darling, have a small meeting in the city of revenge."

She smiled again, and Leo knew she wouldn't tell. At least, not for a while. The other members of the seven would know where he was going, but she wouldn't. His secret was safe with her.

"Revenge is best served cold," she tipped him. "Good-bye, Leo Valdez." She walked off back towards the cabins. Leo took a deep breath, and marched over the hill into the mortal world. He looked back once, and thought he could see the ghost of Reyna's smile still lingering at the top of the hill.

He would never forget it.

**I had to do this. I had it all planned out and everything. My other story will have to wait. Team Leo always comes first.**


	2. Chapter 2

Reyna was surprised at the amount of time it took for people to notice Leo was missing. Of, course it was probably some matter that it was October and most of the Hephaestus kids were at school for the year, but still, Reyna had expected _someone_ to notice.

To no avail; it was three days before it was brought to attention that Leo was gone. Of course, as soon as Piper realized that, she instantly panicked. Apparently Leo had a history with running, something that didn't exactly surprise Reyna. Apparently when he left, he never came back. Again, that didn't surprise her. If you left somewhere, it obviously wasn't somewhere you wanted to be.

The clue he left behind kept tormenting her. _The city of revenge_. It had to be somewhere they'd gone on their quest. But there was no chance to ask anyone. If she asked places they'd been, they might send out people to those places, or they could assume she knew something, which she did, but she didn't want to reveal that to anyone. It had seemed like an unspoken promise to her. Reyna tried not to break promises.

October turned into November, which turned into December. People starting thinking, that was it; he would never come back. Piper was the only one who really seemed concerned about where he might be, despite the fact that Reyna knew her well enough that she knew he was fine on his own. Reyna occasionally had to bite back a laugh. _You only miss him when he's gone_. Reyna noticed in an irritatingly large way that Leo wasn't there. She always noticed Leo, because he was always _trying_ to be noticed in some way. He was almost begging her to look at him. Leo was always doing _something_ and now that he was gone, the camp seemed surprisingly…empty.

Reyna somehow managed to slip her question into a conversation with Jason. It was about the time when Jason had been on a quest to free Juno the previous year, and Jason was telling her about the bronze dragon Festus they had to ride.

"He was a real machine," Jason was saying. "Sure we had to put down a few times, but I can't think of a cooler way to travel across the country."

"Cooler than the Argo ll?" Reyna asked, beginning to lean toward the question.

Jason thought for a minute. "No. The Argo ll was cooler. Leo was so proud of it."

And there it was. The name. The unspeakable. Reyna had learned not to say it in conversations with the seven or the Hephaestus cabin, as had the others who hadn't known Leo that well. Reyna guessed it was almost like when Percy was missing, only on a much smaller scale. Back then, you couldn't mention Percy's name. Talking about Leo just bothered people. But Reyna hadn't expected anything different. Leo probably hadn't either.

"I heard he was always fixing it," she said.

"He was. As soon as we left New Rome, we had to put down in At the Great Salt Lake. Leo saw Nemesis there."

"For all the talk of Olympus being closed, you guys saw many gods."

"I guess so," Jason said. The air of the conversation began to get awkward, and Reyna changed to subject. But she had her information. Great Salt Lake. Would that mean Salt Lake City? It was close. It had almost the same name. It would fit everything easily.

The only problem was getting there.

As soon as she got to that part in the plan, she stopped herself. Why did she care? Why did it matter where Leo was? He had even said it himself; they never talked. Reyna had every right to be indifferent, hold up a mask of polite concern and nothing more. She didn't have to go searching for Leo. She owed him nothing. But in a way, she owed him more than he knew.

Despite that, she managed to push all the thoughts out of her head of leaving the camp. She continued her praetor duties, led her people, and continued to keep her distance like the Reyna that everybody knew. She crossed between the two camps a lot these days; there was a lot of business the two stations shared. And most of all, she tried to push down the burning guilt she felt whenever the thought surfaced again and made her want to blurt out _He's in Salt Lake City_.

Because in a way she'd promised. And she was scared that if she told anyone, he'd run away again, and this time, she wouldn't have a clue where he was.

* * *

The business at Camp Half-Blood had taken less time than she'd thought. She didn't have to be back at Camp Jupiter for another two days. Heading back across the country, she slowly came to the realization that she was close to Utah. _He's in Salt Lake City_, the little voice screamed. She gritted her teeth. She wasn't supposed to care. She was supposed to be indifferent. She was supposed to go back to camp Jupiter as planned and continue on in her life. That was possible. She could do that. That's what she had been doing. But saying all that in her head hurt more than it usually did.

Somehow she found herself in Salt Lake City.

It was a vain hope. Salt Lake City was pretty big. You couldn't find one person in a city that large. Also, there were other cities that were on the coast of the lake. He could be in any one of those. Or maybe Jason had been wrong. Maybe it was a completely different lake altogether. Maybe it wasn't even a lake. It could have been a coastline, or a river. It was a total long-shot. But Reyna took it.

By some miracle of Fortuna, she lucked out. After wandering aimlessly around town for a few hours, she spotted a scrawny Latino boy walking with his head down through the busy streets. _No, it couldn't be so easy,_ she thought. But she tailed the boy anyway, feeling much like a creeper as she mirrored the boys every move through the walkways. Then he turned, and she gasped.

"Leo?"

* * *

Leo wasn't _exactly_ irritated to see her, so that was a start.

He didn't say a word to her after Reyna had said she wanted to talk, but Reyna tried to think about her mission. _I was right,_ she told herself. _He's here. I found him._ They wound through the streets of the city, Leo not stopping to see if she was following, which made Reyna feel like he was hoping she'd get lost and never bother him again. They finally stopped in front of a seemingly random apartment building, which Leo deducted might be where he lived. She hadn't even thought of that. He'd have to live _somewhere_. Leo turned to face her, and his eyes were colder than she remembered, even colder than they were the night he left.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"You met Nemesis at Great Salt Lake," she tried to explain. "She's the goddess of revenge. I took a wild guess."

"But why are you here?" he asked.

Reyna hesitated. "I don't know. I wanted to see you, I guess. I wanted to know where you were."

Leo blew air through his mouth. "Did you tell anyone where I was? Are they coming to find me?"

"No, no one knows. I wasn't even sure, but it was on my way, and I thought I would see."

Her voice stopped after noticing the look Leo was giving her. It was a mean look, exasperated and tired, and it didn't belong on Leo's face. She went on, now determined to get her point across

"I thought I was wrong," she went on. "Why would you go back to that place if there were bad memories there? But that's where no one would ever think to look. A place they knew you hated."

Leo hadn't changed much. His face was still the same. He might have grown an inch, but he was still scrawny. His hands still fidgeted with the strings of his hoodie, and even though he was only sixteen- less than a year younger than herself- he looked much older and sadder. But the part that he'd worried about seemed to be over. He took a deep breath, and tried for another confident Leo-smile, which he managed so perfectly that Reyna had to wonder how many times he'd slipped behind a mask like that, and no one had ever noticed.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about _belleza?" _He asked, his tone sporting again. Reyna blinked.

"I wanted to hear how you're doing," she said. As soon as she said it, she realized it was the truth. That was what she wanted to know. Leo's smile widened into a real one.

"Well, that would be a long story, my dear," he began, and Reyna knew that she had asked for it.

They walked through the town, Leo talking about insignificant details, and places he'd been in the city ("The food at that place is horrible." "The lady in the apartment above me has the loudest freaking dog you'll ever hear.") Reyna got the idea that he was enjoying himself more than he'd like to admit. And that was fine. She was there. She had been right. Three months of guilt lifted off her chest.

Eventually, Leo's chatted died down. Trudging through the snow seemed more of a chore, and Reyna's breath steamed in the air. It was getting colder. Of course, Reyna was pretty sure Leo didn't get cold, but that was beside the point. It meant that soon, Reyna would have to get going, to be out before nightfall. They both realized this, but neither of them called on it. They just continued to walk in silence.

"How is everyone?" Leo finally asked.

"Worried," Reyna said truthfully. "At least Camp Half-Blood is. Especially Piper. She's been a wreck."

Leo wiggled an eyebrow. "All da ladies love Leo," he reminded her.

"Right, I'd forgotten." Reyna looked at their feet moving in tune with each other. She wondered how that had happened. She was used to walking faster than everybody else. But Leo kept pace pretty well.

"I miss you too, you know," she said quietly.

"That's what you said," he responded. "I still don't get why."

"You were always by yourself," she said. "But you managed to _act_ like you were happy. And I knew that if you could do it, I could. If you could stand being alone, then so could I. Then you were gone…and I had to fight for my own ground again." She paused, not sure whether to continue or not. "It was hard."

"When I got here," Leo said. "All I could think was that everyone had somewhere to be, something to _do_, except me, just like at Camp. After a while, it started seeming natural."

"Then why didn't you go?" Reyna questioned, almost harshly. "Why didn't you leave here and try again somewhere else?"

Leo hunched his shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "I felt like I had to stay. I felt like I was waiting for something. I might've. I still might."

"Piper says all you ever do is run," Reyna commented.

Leo went rigid. "She does not."

"Well that's what it sounded like to me. Typical. You would be one to have a temper tantrum and just run when things get hard."

"I do not have temper tantrums." Leo's voice was rising again, as was Reyna's.

"Well that's what it seems like to me. Just running off into the blue. What if the police found you? What if you'd been hurt or killed? No one knew where you were. No one knew where to find you!"

"You did!" Leo shot back. "You knew. You always knew. Enough of this 'wild guess' crap. You knew where I was because I told you! And you were scared."

"Of what?" she prodded. "What am I scared of, Leo Valdez?"

"That you would come all this way to find me, and discover that I didn't miss any of you. And that I wasn't coming back."

There was silence. They weren't walking anymore. Their breaths pooled together in white mist

"You're going to come back." Reyna didn't phrase it as a question.

"I know," Leo answered. "Just not yet."

Reyna turned away from him. "People are missing you, Leo. _Piper_ misses you. _Jason_ misses you. We _cared_ about you. You can't make people keep waiting on you while you sit feeling sorry for yourself on the other side of the country. That's not fair."

He whirled on her. "Fair?" he asked. "Since when was my life fair? Nothing has ever been easy. Nothing has ever been permanent. Nothing about life is _fair_, Reyna!"

"You think I don't know that?" the praetor snapped. "You think I don't know what it's like to have your everything ripped away from you? You think I don't know what it's like to keep waiting for that light at the end of the tunnel but it _never comes_?"

They had a momentary staring contest, but Leo looked away first.

"You don't know anything about me."

"I bet I do," she challenged.

"Then why do you stay?" he replied. "If you're like me, why do you stay with the Legion? Why don't you run away like I did?" His expression had a madman glint to it, like the villain in a movie saying, _Join Me._

The question caught Reyna, but she refused to stammer. She pushed forward.

"I think about leaving," she stated, her voice strong "But I don't do it. People might not miss me, but they need me. I do so much for them, that if I left, so many things would fall apart. Even if they don't care about me, I care about them, and I would never destroy them like that." She made Leo meet her eyes. "Your friends need you."

Leo's hand caught fire. He didn't try to extinguish it, he just let it burn, lighting their faces and warming the air between them. His smile had long since faded, and there was a ghostly anger to his face like he was trying not to listen but the words were already starting to sink in.

"Not today," he said. "I'm not leaving today."

"No," she said. "That would get me in trouble too." Reyna tried to keep her tone light.

"Still a rule follower, I see," Leo retorted.

"Still a rule breaker, I see."

"Some rules were made to be broken. Like, did you know it's required by law to drink milk in Utah?"

"Let me guess, you don't drink milk."

"Not one sip," he said proudly.

Reyna shook her head, and began to walk away. Then she turned and said "If I don't see you in a month, I'll start telling people where you are."

Leo's smile faded. "They'll blame you."

"Probably," she said pleasantly, getting her conversation back on track.

"You can't do that."

"Watch me. I believe this is one of those pesky things people call 'deadlines'."

"You can't tell people where I am."

Anger roared in her ears. "I can and I will," she snapped. " Why don't you get it? You're hurting other people. You're hurting yourself! Me letting you hide away here is not helping the problem. If you aren't going to solve your own problems, then by the gods I'll do it for you! People miss you and you miss them and don't pretend like you don't know it!" Her voice was rising. She tried to remain calm. The sun was even lower in the sky, and just like the fading light, her patience was running thin.

"I hate knowing how to fix a problem and then not fixing it," she said.

"So I'm a problem?" His tone was accusatory and sarcastic.

"We both are," she said. "If I can't fix myself, I'll fix you. We can do this the hard way, or the easy way."

Leo looked at her carefully, like she might be lying. Then he walked over and stood right in front of her.

"Why?" he asked. "My friends will hate you. They probably have some word for people who keep secrets, and that's what you'll be. Why would you do that?"

She looked him straight in the eyes.

"Because no one else will," she said simply. "And someone like you deserves to be saved."

Then she walked away, leaving Leo on a twilight corner in Utah, feeling less than confident, with Leo's words echoing in her head. _Why don't you run_? She knew that if she looked back, she might just change her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Reyna had done a lot of waiting. She'd waited a prisoner of the pirates when Circe's island was raided. She'd waited for Jason to come back when he was stolen, she'd waited in prolonged silence while the seven went on their quest and came back, hoping to hear good news upon their return.

The wait for Leo to come back almost rivaled those.

It wasn't that Reyna was particularly anxious about it. It was more that she desperately wanted to believe that she'd done the right thing. She wanted to believe that it had been right to barge in like that and reveal that she knew where he was. She wanted to believe that he'd show up at the end of the month ready to come back. She hoped that he wouldn't run off somewhere else in anger and all her worrying would be in vain.

She still wasn't exactly sure why she was even worrying. It wasn't even her job to worry about it. But somehow, she felt a connection to the scrawny boy with the leather tool belt and an overstated sense of humor. She knew from experience that unspoken promises were sometimes the most devout ones. Leo Valdez and she had more promises than anyone else she knew.

The more days went by, the more she hoped she'd get one of those Iris-messages saying that Leo had come back, or even the unlikely possibility that he'd come to Camp Jupiter to see her, though she wasn't exactly sure why she hoped for that. It was a stupid fantasy. Camp Jupiter still held a huge grudge against the son of Hephaestus, and though one could debate for hours on Leo's sanity, he wasn't suicidal. Reyna had to be the one to pull the trigger. And she got the feeling that Leo was waiting for her to do exactly that.

January had closed in, and she knew that at this point, there was no turning back. She'd given him deadline. His words kept bouncing back at her. _They'll blame you. My friends will hate you._ As if she didn't have enough people who looked at her strangely. She almost thought about going back on the idea. Let the kid stay where he was. He wasn't happy at Camp, and he wasn't any happier in Utah, and if the kid couldn't be satisfied, that wasn't her problem. But suddenly, it felt very much like her problem. If she never saw Leo again, if _no one_ at Camp Half-Blood ever saw Leo again, she was sure that mound of guilt would press itself back on her shoulders. Percy and Annabeth had talked about holding up the sky before. She imagined that this must feel similar, like opening a self-inflicted wound. The pain doubled the more you thought about it. Reyna had never been a fan of self-inflicted pain.

_Why would you do that? _he'd asked, his eyes daring to question why anyone would ruin their reputation for someone like him.

_Because no one else will,_ she'd answered. And it was the truth. No one knew except for Reyna. And that made it all that harder to decide which one was the right thing.

* * *

Reyna was at Camp Half-Blood again, for some thing or another, and she was standing by the big house, having just finished discussing something with Chiron. She didn't want to tell Leo's siblings because she didn't know any of them very well. She also didn't want to walk up to Piper, because even though she may be a daughter of Aphrodite, her temper was not something Reyna wanted to reckon with. Once again, Reyna felt herself falling back onto Jason, which she despised. But she knew it was one of those now or never times, so she hesitantly went over to the basketball courts where Jason had been shooting hoops.

"Hey," she said, sitting down next to him.

"Hey," he said back. She took a deep breath.

"So, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." Reyna felt so immature, like she had been put into one of those stupid teen movies with the awkward conversations where you just held your breath and closed your eyes while you waited for it to be over. She was usually direct, but it felt like she was walking on a tightrope. She wanted to inflict the least amount of damage as possible, which was selfish, as it had been her who had volunteered.

"Go ahead," he said, fixing his gaze on her, which, for the first time, she found slightly unnerving.

"It's about Leo." Reyna grit her teeth in her mouth.

Jason's expression immediately changed to something unreadable. "Yes?"

There were so many ways that she could put it delicately, but then again, she had never been one for delicate measures. She took a deep breath and said the words she'd wanted to say for the last four months. "I know where he is."

It felt like everything in Camp just stopped cold and took a breath. A cold breeze blew past them. If Jason's eyes were unnerving before, now they were piercing, like they were cutting into her soul. He'd only ever looked at her like that once before, and even then it hadn't hurt as bad. Now it felt like a knife blade.

"Are you serious?" he asked, amusement in his voice that didn't make it to his eyes.

"Yes." Immediately she was defensive, sitting up straighter and forming her words differently. "Why would I lie?"

"why would you tell us after four months?"

That shattered her resolve a bit. "That's complicated. It's a long story. But I wasn't entirely sure until a little while ago. Now I know I'm right."

"Complicated?" Jason didn't look mad exactly, it was one of those expressions that you couldn't pinpoint; like anger mixed with hurt mixed with disbelief mixed with fear. She wasn't exactly sure where the fear was coming from.

"Quite," was her only answer.

Jason stood up, wringing his hands and pacing. Jason had always been a pacer, and she used to think it was so annoying, but now the movement looked frighteningly solemn. His voice was still the same anyway, so she hoped she wasn't completely a goner.

"How do you know, anyway? Did a god send you a vision? Did you catch a glace of him somewhere?"

Reyna felt like she was digging herself an even bigger ditch. "He told me himself," she answered in a stoic tone.

"How?"

The world was spiraling out from underneath her. The corner of her mouth twitched. She wasn't even sure she wanted to see the expression in her eyes, as she could barely meet the one in Jason's. But she was far past the point of no return. "I was there the night he left. I talked to him."

Reyna had never been more positive that she was going to get skewered in her whole life. There had been times when she'd argue with Jason, or with the senate, or with Octavian (most notably Octavian), and she felt like she understood the phrase 'if looks could kill'. Fighting with Jason had never been on her top things to do list, because Jason had a presence that even affected Rena sometimes. But that was always about work. They'd never fought about person things before, and Reyna was beginning to wish that the opportunity had never arisen.

"You knew he was gone and you didn't tell anyone?" This was not Jason Grace, sixteen year old Californian. It was Jason grace, praetor of New Rome, son of Lord Jupiter, a side that Reyna rarely saw.

"I made a sort of promise to him," she explained. "That I wouldn't tell, and he could go and sort out whatever problems he had on his own."

"Leo made you promise?" Jason's voice was softer now.

"He didn't make me promise," Reyna amended. "It was just an unspoken promise, like he was daring me to go after him."

"But you didn't."

"No," she said, reclaiming some semblance of control over the situation. "Because if he knew we were coming, he would have run again to gods know where, and then we would have no way of tracking him down."

"And it's so much better to track him down after four months, isn't it?"

"What are you implying?" she demanded.

"Everyone here was so upset with him gone, and you weren't. I brushed it off, since you didn't know him that well, but now I find that you knew where he was the whole time. You just wanted to watch us suffer?"

"You know I'm not like that, Jason," Reyna said, standing up now.

"We didn't know what had happened to him. We thought he might have been dead!" Jason pointed out.

"And that shows such faith in your supposed friend, doesn't it?" she spat, unable to hold it in.

Jason stopped cold. "What?"

"He didn't leave because of me. He left because of you. He left because he was unwanted and ignored, just like all the other stupid places he's run from. He left because he _wasn't happy. _That's something you cannot blame on _me_, Jason Grace."

"We didn't ignore Leo. He was my best friend," Jason hissed, but he didn't sound sure.

"Tell that to him," she said in defiance. "After all the time I spent trying to get it into his thick skull, tell him and see if he listens. I told him that if he didn't come back before a set date I would tell everyone where he was. And he isn't here."

"I can't believe you talked to him and still let him leave like that? I can't believe that you, Reyna, would just let him leave. You know how dangerous it is out there."

"I could say the same for you Jason," Reyna replied easily. "I think I could say the same." She started to walk back towards the Big House. "I kept my end of the deal. You can interrogate him about it all you want, but I played fair. He's in Salt Lake City, Utah. See if he'll come back."

She turned on her heel and walked away. She was sure that if her expression darkened any further, it could rival Tartarus itself.

* * *

Leo wasn't a patient person. He wanted things done instantly, the twenty-first century state of mind. He was even less patient with himself. So he was painfully aware of the days passing by as he waited for Reyna to sic her dogs on him. He wasn't going back to Camp. If he showed up at Camp now, after four months, he had this building fear that it would be very insignificant. T noticed he was gone, or so Reyna said, but would they notice he came back. He somehow thought that they wouldn't.

_Piper misses you_, Reyna had said. _Jason misses you. We cared about you. _Could that be true? It hadn't felt like it. But then again, Leo had never been very good at dealing with people. That's why he always ended up running. _You would be one to have a temper tantrum and just run when things get hard._ It hurt because that was the truth. And Leo knew better than most how horrible the truth could be.

By the time the deadline drew around, Leo was still firmly rooted in his spot. He was half-hoping they would come, half dreading it.

Nothing happened.

The whole day he was peering over his shoulder for familiar faces, listening for someone yelling his name, watching out for shadows of pegasai overhead. Nothing happened. No one came. It was almost impending, like the calm before a storm. The next few days were much of the same. Nothing, no disruption in the clean pattern he'd been following for the past four months.

The week after, they came for him.

He had just walked out of his apartment and started down the street when he heard a voice that made him stop in his tracks.

"Leo Valdez!"

Piper. Oh gods. He was almost afraid to turn around. But he flipped around to see the angriest daughter of Aphrodite ever storming towards him. He could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears. Jason and Nyssa were flanking him.

"Piper!" he said, trying for a big smile. "I see you brought the entourage!"

"Valdez!" She looked too mad to even speak. "You-you-Leo!" Leo resisted the urge to back up and run for the hills. She reached him and raised a hand as if to slap him across the face. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been? Do you even know?"

Leo put his hands up. "Well, Reyna gave me some idea."

Piper blew air through her nose. "Oh, her." She looked back towards the corner she had just rounded, and Leo was startled to see her leaning against the side of the building, looking anywhere but at them.

"Why did she come?" Leo asked, and Piper looked murderous.

"She had to show us where you lived," she said. "If you weren't out here I was going to go in breaking down doors."

"You wouldn't," Leo said.

"I've got a record anyway," Piper shrugged. "Why not make it look pretty?"

Leo smiled a half-true smile. Just the sort of excuse Piper would come up with. Nyssa came running up behind her with Jason. She too looked like she wanted to knock Leo into next week.

"Leo!" she said, her hands clenching and unclenching.

Leo studied her. "At least I know you both remember how to pronounce my name," he said cooly.

"This isn't _funny_, Leo!"she said. "Harley has been worried sick. I've been worried."

Leo didn't answer. If this was going to be a whole bunch of I-missed-you's and where-have-you-been's, then Leo was actually considering walking away. He wasn't into all that kind of mush and gush.

"This was so not cool, dude," Jason said. "Why would you just leave?"

"I have my reasons," Leo said mysteriously.

"Don't play games with me, Valdez," Piper scolded. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Let's just go. We can talk back at Camp."

She grabbed Leo's arm and tried to pull him towards the street, but Leo stayed rooted to the spot.

"No," he said quietly.

All three of them spun to look at him. Nyssa's eye twitched. "Come on, Leo. We're going home."

"No," he said, and was instantly stunned by how good it felt to say that. "Well, not today."

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Reyna smile.

Now Piper was mad too, "What do you mean, 'not today'?"

"Not today. I kind of like Salt Lake City. It's western."

"This is not funny Leo," Jason said. "Not funny at all."

"I'm not being funny," Leo said honestly, and he wasn't. "I'm not going anywhere."

Piper opened her mouth, but Leo stopped her. "If you charmspeak me into going, I'll just leave again. And you know that."

Piper's eyes were literally spiraling into rage, Nyssa was at her side, and in that moment, she resembled Coach Hedge, and Leo was seriously glad that she didn't have a baseball bat with her. Jason stood almost awkwardly behind the two girls, looking like he was trying to keep from slowly exploding on the sidewalk.

"I'm going to stay right here," Leo said, tapping the sidewalk and crossing his arms. "You head back to Camp, and I'll meet you back there."

"When?" Nyssa demanded.

"At some point," Leo shrugged. "I don't have a calendar on me."

This was taking some nerve, standing up to three people who could probably kill him right here on the sidewalk. Piper's eyes were mixed with hurt and anger, and also confusion, which simply irritated Leo even more.

"But-" she said softly. "We thought-"

"I'm not an idiot, Piper," Leo said. "If I wanted to go back to camp I would have by now. I know where it is, you know. You guys just don't get it."

Leo shook his head and walked off towards the corner of the street to stand in front of Reyna, pointedly ignoring the glares and stares boring into his back. She was looking anywhere but at him, but her lips were upturned in an almost smile, so that was a start.

"Your timing was off," he said, loud enough so that his voice would carry.

"It's not like I've done this before," she answered, not mimicking his volume. Her tone was icier.

"I'm still not going back."

"I figured," she shrugged her shoulders. "I told them that. The rest of this is on you."

"I know," he said darkly. They stood in silence for a little bit. "You know," he said. "I never got to wish you a happy New Year."

"New Year has never been my favorite holiday," Reyna dismissed.

"It isn't mine. But people ask questions when a guy like me isn't excited about New Year's. Go figure."

Reyna looked up. "You friends look like they want to kill us both. They probably will."

"Let them do that. I'll just keep standing next to you." Leo was back to serious-mode again.

"And be hated?"

"Nothing new."

"But why?"

Leo had been waiting for her to ask that.

"Because no one else will. And that's what someone like you deserves."

There was that smile again, that he'd seen all those months ago, that smile that he thought he'd never see again. But this time, he knew he'd be seeing it for a while.

"How did you even get here?" Leo asked. He didn't see any pegasai, or any flaming chariots.

"Long story, Valdez," Reyna grumbled.

"I know a burger place."

For Leo, it was easier than ever to pretend that Piper and Nyssa's angry shouts were directed at someone else. He was trying to make a habit of not looking back.

**Please tell me someone else hates this ending. This took a really long time because I was trying to fix it, but I started to feel bad about it, so sorry that it's really crappy ending. Thanks for all the support this got! **


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